Tutoring Sessions
by kotaka-kun
Summary: There wasn't a student that attended Rokubanchou High School that wasn't familiar with the name Nezumi, and Shion was no exception. But when the school's infamous delinquent pops up after a lengthy absence, Shion is asked to tutor him. High school AU. Eventual NezuShi. Written as a birthday present.


I wrote this as a birthday present for my friend that dragged me into this series. I was trying to write you bad yaoi MikaTsuru, but I couldn't figure out how, so here's just some generically bad writing. Happy Birthday.

* * *

There wasn't a student that attended Rokubanchou High School that wasn't familiar with the name Nezumi, and Shion was no exception. In the span of three short years, Nezumi had created a reputation for himself that had sparked rumors that were now considered urban legends throughout the school.

He was notoriously known for his blatant defiance of authority in his freshman year, the havoc he wrecked in his sophomore year, and after the incident that got him suspended in his junior year, everyone was curious to see what he'd pull in his senior year. So it came as a bit of a surprise to everyone when he just disappeared.

The first few months of his absence had the student body buzzing with theories of what had happened to him - maybe he'd just dropped out, or maybe he'd joined a gang, or maybe he was caught with drugs in his bag (he'd always seemed to have been the type), or maybe he'd been suspended again, or maybe he'd finally been expelled. And even though Shion wasn't usually one to keep up to date on gossip, he found himself listening every so often when the topic of Nezumi came up. It wasn't like he knew the boy - they'd never even spoken. But there was something about him that intrigued Shion. It probably had something to do with the fact that he was different from the rest of the students here. With Rokubanchou located in a wealthy neighborhood, the student body consisted mostly of sons and daughters of lawyers and doctors. Students' studies and grades were valued above all else. So to have a delinquent like Nezumi among them obviously made him a point of interest. But it was that same reason for their interest that kept everyone at a distance from him. Who knew what he'd do if you tried to approach him, anyway? He could probably beat you to a pulp and have no one stop him.

Regardless of whatever ridiculous idea had come up though, by the time the first semester ended, no one was really thinking of Nezumi anymore. He'd been gone for half a year, and it was unlikely he'd return. He was probably expelled anyway.

School resumed after winter break, but the seat beside him that Shion had grown so used to seeing empty was now suddenly occupied by the last person he expected to see in class: Nezumi. It was as much of a shock to him as it was to the rest of the class. The news would surely spread throughout the school by the time lunch period rolled around.

His reappearance caused a palpable tension in the room, and even the teacher, Mr. Rikiga, was obviously shaken by it. Still, the lesson english lesson continued, and every time Shion glanced over at the boy beside him, he found Nezumi looking terribly bored. Half the time, his eyes weren't even on the front of the room; he was often looking out the window or staring blankly at his desk, fingers tapping incessantly.

It was only when Mr. Rikiga handed out a pop quiz that Shion saw Nezumi's facial expression change at all. In fact, his entire body language changed - whereas he'd been obviously bored by the lengthy lecture Rikiga was giving about the significance of Shakespeare, now he looked tense, maybe even panicked.

While Shion worked through his, he kept an eye on boy beside him. Unfortunately, Nezumi was getting more and more frustrated with each passing minute, until he seemed to decide that it wasn't worth the effort. He began folding up his blank test form with a scowl, and Shion watched in blatant surprise as Nezumi folded it into a plane, flicked it out the window, and then proceeded to put in a pair of earphones, crossed his arms on the desk, and put his head down on them. Before Mr. Rikiga could even try to tell him off, he shut his eyes and fell asleep.

Eventually, Shion turned his focus back onto his quiz, and finishing it off quickly, he walked to the teacher's desk and handed it in. When he returned to his desk, he pulled out his book from his bag, and began to read. He was in the middle of _The Giver_ \- a story of a utopian world that is slowly revealed to be a dystopian one. It was an interesting read, if not an over the top one, but the idea of having to live in such a society was sickening. Silently thankful for not being born into such a horrid fictional world, he continued to read until he began to get the feeling that someone was staring at him. Looking up, his eyes went to Nezumi's sleeping figure beside him, only he wasn't sleeping anymore.

Dark eyes met his, and he held the blank stare. Shion wondered what was going through Nezumi's head at the moment. Why was he staring at Shion to begin with? And how long had he actually been watching him? Soon, Nezumi's eyes shut again, leaving Shion feeling a little taken aback. He awkwardly went back to his book, but was unable to really concentrate on the story.

Soon enough, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class period, but before Shion could even gather his things, the teacher called out to him, catching both his and Safu's attention. She was a childhood friend of his, and they had the fortune of sharing the majority of their classes. They had this class together, though she sat across the room from him, as well as chemistry, art, world history, and calculus.

"Shion, could you stay here for a bit? I'd like to talk to you." Shion blinked, and nodded.

"Alright." he replied, and took his time in putting his notebook and pencil case back into his bag.

Safu gave Shion a sidelong glance, and he gave her a smile and a nod. Nodding back, she went ahead without him.  
Waiting until all the students had filed out of the room, Rikiga shut the door, and beckoned Shion to come up closer. Complying, he took a seat at a desk just in front of where his teacher stood, and then looked up at him expectantly.

"I never thought that guy would ever actually show up." Mr. Rikiga ran a hand down his face tiredly. Shion assumed his teacher was talking about Nezumi. He was right. "That Nezumi is going to be a handful, I just know it." Shion offered a sympathetic smile. Rikiga wasn't a bad teacher, per say, but he also wasn't one that tried very hard to help students that needed it. "I need to ask a favor of you." he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're one of the smartest kids in the class, and I figure you'd be able to handle a little extra work, right?"

"I guess?" Shion responded warily. Rikiga often said these sorts of things before pushing odd jobs onto him. Just because Mr. Rikiga was friends with his mom didn't mean Shion was willing to do his bidding, but sometimes, he couldn't help it. He was getting a feeling this would be one of those times.

"Great. I was hoping you'd be willing to tutor Nezumi until he's caught up in the class materials." the man said with a grin. It was obvious he already knew he'd won Shion over.

"Wait, what?"

"I'm not asking you to straighten him out - God knows that's damn near impossible. I'm just asking you to teach him what he missed in the first semester." Shion stared at Mr. Rikiga blankly. He was supposed to teach Nezumi a whole semester's worth of material? Was that even possible for someone who /didn't/ hate school?

"Mr. Rikiga-" Shion tried to protest, but to no avail. Rikiga cut him off before he could even voice one of his many concerns with this idea.

"C'mon, please help me out here. You don't even have to get his grades to an A. Just high enough so he can pass his classes and graduate." Rikiga begged. "I've already got admin breathing down my neck. They want him outta here already, and making him graduate is the easiest option here."

Shion frowned at that. While he could understand that Nezumi wasn't an ideal student to have around, Shion couldn't bring himself to believe that that was enough to warrant Rikiga's attitude towards the boy. Still, it was obvious Rikiga had no plans on helping Nezumi himself, so Shion reluctantly convinced himself that this would work out, that it would be okay.

"Alright, I'll try." he muttered, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and getting up. He pointedly avoided Rikiga's gaze, but he could still see the look of relief on his teacher's face.

"Thanks, Shion. You're the best!" the man said as he scribbled out a note to excuse Shion's tardiness to his next class. Taking it, the boy nodded both in acknowledgement and in thanks before heading out the door.

* * *

Shion walked into his chemistry class, and found that they'd already started on the day's lab. He handed the note to the teacher, who looked it over, deemed it acceptable, and then added that Shion was to be Safu's lab partner in today's experiment.

Dropping off his bag at his desk, Shion slipped on an apron and a pair of goggles before joining his friend at the table. He peered over at the handout she had to get an idea of what they were supposed to be doing.

"What was that about?" Safu asked. As expected of Safu, she cut right to the chase.

"Mr. Rikiga wants me to tutor Nezumi." he replied, picking up the beaker and slowly pouring the water into the graduated cylinder.

"What?" A look of surprise came to Safu's usually passive face. "And you agreed?"

"Well, I didn't have much of a choice." Shion said defensively. Safu frowned. She knew that Mr. Rikiga was a friend of Shion's mother, but asking something like this of Shion wasn't fair, and she made her thoughts known.

"That isn't fair to you. Mr. Rikiga has no right to ask that of you. You need to focus on your own studies too." she protested. Shion could be such a pushover.

"I may not be as smart as you, but I think I understand the material enough to tutor someone." he said with a lopsided smile. "Besides, I don't really mind."

* * *

Two days later, Shion was being held back after Mr. Rikiga's class, but this time, Nezumi was as well. Rikiga figured that snagging the kid before he could leave was the only way to talk to him; there was very little chance of Nezumi coming in of his own will during any free time, after all.

"Fuck that." Nezumi muttered with a roll of his eyes. This teacher was trying to get him to agree to tutoring? Was he out of his mind? What was the point of trying to catch up at this point? Well, it was obvious that what Rikiga cared about wasn't Nezumi though. The school was probably just trying to get him to leave as soon as possible through the least harmful means they could think of. It was laughable, really.

"Nezumi, you're going to need the extra help if you want to pass the year and graduate with your classmates." Mr. Rikiga grunted, thoroughly unamused by the boy's dismissive attitude. He'd brought up Shion tutoring him, and as expected, he'd refused to even consider it.

Nezumi scoffed, glancing at Shion who was standing beside Rikiga. He looked back at the teacher dubiously.

"Am I supposed to give a shit?" He laughed. "Relax. I'm sure the school will find a way to expel me sooner or later." he said, standing and walking out the door.

"Nezumi!" Rikiga bellowed, following him as far as to the doorway of the class, but the boy didn't so much as falter. He simply slipped his earphones back in, and went on his way.

Sighing deeply, Rikiga turned back to Shion with an apologetic look.

"We'll try again another time." he said defeatedly. Shion nodded slowly, but wasn't so sure giving up here and trying again later would do any good. Saying a quick goodbye to Mr. Rikiga, Shion looked up and down the hallway, hoping to see which way Nezumi had gone. He managed to catch a glimpse of the dark haired boy disappearing around the corner, and he ran after him.

* * *

A/N: I'm hoping to get at least chapter two up some time tomorrow... I just wanted to have something up today. I'm not entirely sure how the pacing is gonna be with this one, but I'll try to keep it as consistent as I possibly can.


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